New research confirms that a variant on the patatin-like phospholipase-3 (PNPLA3) gene increases risk of steatosis and fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). The PNPLA3 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs 738409 may represent an important genetic predictor and potential therapeutic target in chronic HCV liver damage. Study details are published in the July issue of Hepatology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) roughly 170,000 ...

Bird species in rainforest fragments in Brazil that were isolated by deforestation disappeared then reappeared over a quarter-century, according to research results published today in the journal PLoS ONE. Scientists thought many of the birds had gone extinct. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and conducted in cooperation with Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Manaus, Brazil. Lead author Philip Stouffer, an ornithologist ...

From educators to leaders in industry, there is broad agreement that U.S. schools have a crucial challenge in improving teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) among students from kindergarten through high school. A background in STEM is not only essential to many current and future careers; it is also a means for citizens to understand and participate in an increasingly complex world--from understanding the challenges of environmental sustainability to addressing the need for alternative sources of energy. The NRC report, "Successful ...

New research by the University of Warwick and Humboldt university shows that the frequency of wars between states increased steadily from 1870 to 2001 by 2% a year on average. The research argues that conflict is being fed by economic growth and the proliferation of new borders. We may think the world enjoyed periods of relative freedom from war between the Cold War and 9/1 but the new research by Professor Mark Harrison from at the University of Warwick's the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy, and Professor Nikolaus Wolf from Humboldt University, ...

When Oxygen4Energy Athlete Kellie Wells got to Eugene, Oregon this past week, she had only one thing on her mind... winning a national championship. She knew that all of the nation's top competitors would also be there gunning for the title, but she was definitely up for the challenge. So far this year, Kellie has been the most dominant figure in women's hurdles by tying an American Record (55m Hurdles), winning the Indoor National Title, running multiple World Lead times, winning the first Diamond League event, and never finishing worse than 2nd place in any race she ...

The global economic recession of 2008-09 has been followed by a decline in fertility rates in Europe and the United States, bringing to an end the first concerted rise in fertility rates in the developed world since the 1960s, according to research published today. "In a new study, scientists from the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (VID) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) identify that economic recessions tend to be followed by a decline in fertility rates - and also identify how specific groups of ...

Johns Hopkins University graduate students have invented a device to reduce the risk of infection, clotting and narrowing of the blood vessels in patients who need blood-cleansing dialysis because of kidney failure. The device, designed to be implanted under the skin in a patient's leg, would give a technician easy access to the patient's bloodstream and could be easily opened and closed at the beginning and end of a dialysis procedure. The prototype has not yet been used in human patients, but testing in animals has begun. The students learned about the need for ...

Zinger Digital Signs today introduced eight new free-standing digital poster kiosk solutions for the retail and office/corporate markets. The digital signage poster kiosks are aimed at replacing printed posters used in retail and corporate environments. The new digital poster kiosks are certified for true 24/7 operations in commercial applications. Digital posters offer many benefits to printed posters including savings from printing, shipping & handling. Digital posters can be updated instantly, giving retailers a tremendous benefit for those last minute sales or ...

A new, cost-effective process for colouring titanium can be used in manufacturing products from sporting equipment to colour-coded nuclear waste containers. "The new method uses an electrochemical solution to produce coloured titanium, improving on an older, time-consuming and expensive method where heat was used to develop a coloured layer," says Gregory Jerkiewicz, a professor in the Department of Chemistry. Dr. Jerkiewicz's new technique can be finely tuned to produce over 80 different shades of basic colours. In addition, the coloured titanium produced using the ...

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- That panicked feeling we get when the family pet goes missing is the same when we misplace our mobile phone, says a Kansas State University marketing professor. Moreover, those feelings of loss and hopelessness without our digital companion are natural. "The cellphone's no longer just a cellphone; it's become the way we communicate and a part of our life," said Esther Swilley, who researches technology and marketing. This reliance on cellphones and other mobile technology in daily life is an interest of Swilley's, and a phenomenon she hopes to explain. One ...

Top sirloin steaks have been getting a grilling in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food safety studies. USDA microbiologist John B. Luchansky and his colleagues are conducting experiments to help make sure that neither the foodborne pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 nor any of its pathogenic relatives will ruin the pleasure of eating this popular entrée. The scientists are learning more about the movement of E. coli into "subprimals," the meat from which top sirloin steaks are carved. Their focus is on what happens to the E. coli when subprimals are punctured-as ...

Walking to the photocopier and fidgeting at your desk are contributing more to your cardiorespiratory fitness than you might think. Researchers have found that both the duration and intensity of incidental physical activities (IPA) are associated with cardiorespiratory fitness. The intensity of the activity seems to be particularly important, with a cumulative 30-minute increase in moderate physical activity throughout the day offering significant benefits for fitness and long-term health. "It's encouraging to know that if we just increase our incidental activity slightly--a ...

Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold- or warm-blooded. When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought they were plodding beasts that relied on their environment to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. But research during the last few decades suggests that they were faster creatures, nimble like the velociraptors or T. rex depicted in the movie Jurassic Park, requiring warmer, regulated body temperatures. Now, researchers, led by Robert Eagle of the California Institute ...

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are performing a new procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heartbeat. Available at only a handful of U.S. medical centers, this "hybrid" procedure combines minimally invasive surgical techniques with the latest advances in catheter ablation, a technique that applies scars to the heart's inner surface to block signals causing the heart to misfire. The two-pronged approach gives doctors access to both the inside and outside of the heart at the same time, helping to more completely block ...

MADISON, WI, JUNE 28, 2011 -- The evaluation of both nutrient and non-nutrient resource interactions provides information needed to sustainably manage agroforestry systems. Improved diagnosis of appropriate nutrient usage will help increase yields and also reduce financial and environmental costs. To achieve this, a management support system that allows for site-specific evaluation of nutrient-production imbalances is needed. Scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of Saskatchewan have developed a conceptual framework to diagnosis nutrient and non-nutrient ...

VIDEO: Scientists have figured out the brain mechanism that makes this optical illusion work. The illusion, known as "motion aftereffect " in scientific circles, causes us to see movement where none exist Click here for more information. Scientists have come up with new insight into the brain processes that cause the following optical illusion: Focus your eyes directly on the "X" in the center of the image in this short video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXnUckHbPqM&feature=player_embedded) The ...

Tiny seawater algae could hold the key to crops as a source of fuel and plants that can adapt to changing climates. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that the tiny organism has developed coping mechanisms for when its main food source is in short supply. Understanding these processes will help scientists develop crops that can survive when nutrients are scarce and to grow high-yield plants for use as biofuels. The alga normally feeds by ingesting nitrogen from surrounding seawater but, when levels are low, it reduces its intake and instead absorbs ...

Tampa, Fla. (June 28, 2011) – Mensenchymal stem cells (MSCs), multipotent cells identified in bone marrow and other tissues, have been shown to be therapeutically effective in the immunosuppression of T-cells, the regeneration of blood vessels, assisting in skin wound healing, and suppressing chronic airway inflammation in some asthma cases. Typically, when MSCs are being prepared for therapeutic applications, they are cultured in fetal bovine serum. A study conducted by a research team from Singapore and published in the current issue of Cell Medicine [2(1)], freely ...

In another world first, Australian Company JetBoarder pioneers the way in the new sport of JetBoarding. Their newest model, which previewed at Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show in Australia, is a real world first. Click link to see more: http://vimeo.com/24210179 Called the 'Sprint', the focus with the kids' JetBoarder was safety first and fun second, in a new experience for kids aged 12-16. Our SPRINT Model achieves this plus more advises Chris Kanyaro. "We want to give kids the opportunity to enjoy the latest craze taking the world by storm" in ...

For Hollywood celebrities, the term "splitsville" usually means "check your prenup." For scientists wanting to mass-produce high quality nanoribbons from boron nitride nanotubes, "splitsville" could mean "happily ever after." Scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, working with scientists at Rice University, have developed a technique in which boron nitride nanotubes are stuffed with atoms of potassium until the tubes split open along a longitudinal seam. This creates defect-free boron nitride ...

TORONTO, Ont., June 28, 2011—A chemical produced by the same cells that make insulin in the pancreas prevented and even reversed Type 1 diabetes in mice, researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have found. Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is characterized by the immune system's destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas that make and secrete insulin. As a result, the body makes little or no insulin. The only conventional treatment for Type 1 diabetes is insulin injection, but insulin is not a cure as it does not prevent or reverse the loss of ...

EVANSTON, Ill. --- To many, a tax on soda is a no-brainer in advancing the nation's war on obesity. Advocates point to a number of studies in recent years that conclude that sugary drinks have a lot to do with why Americans are getting fatter. But obese people tend to drink diet sodas, and therefore taxing soft drinks with added sugar or other sweeteners is not a good weapon in combating obesity, according to a new Northwestern University study. An amendment to Illinois Senate Bill 396 would add a penny an ounce to the cost of most soft drinks with added sugar or sweeteners, ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Inkjet printers, a low-cost technology that in recent decades has revolutionized home and small office printing, may soon offer similar benefits for the future of solar energy. Engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way for the first time to create successful "CIGS" solar devices with inkjet printing, in work that reduces raw material waste by 90 percent and will significantly lower the cost of producing solar energy cells with some very promising compounds. High performing, rapidly produced, ultra-low cost, thin film solar electronics ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The pen may have bested the sword long ago, but now it's challenging wires and soldering irons. University of Illinois engineers have developed a silver-inked rollerball pen capable of writing electrical circuits and interconnects on paper, wood and other surfaces. The pen is writing whole new chapters in low-cost, flexible and disposable electronics. Led by Jennifer Lewis, the Hans Thurnauer professor of materials science and engineering at the U. of I., and Jennifer Bernhard, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, the team published ...

Stepladders, a household product used by thousands of people every day, are a surprisingly common cause of injury. In 2009, more than 187,000 Americans visited the hospital after sustaining stepladder injuries, many of which resulted from a fall. A recent human factors/ergonomics study explores how improved design and user behavior can decrease the likelihood of future accidents. In their upcoming HFES 55th Annual Meeting presentation, "The Role of Human Balance in Stepladder Accidents," HF/E researchers Daniel Tichon, Lowell Baker, and Irving Ojalvo review research ...